"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross."
-- Sinclair Lewis

Wednesday, September 14, 2016

Has Ivanka Changed Señor Trumpanzee's Mind About The Women?

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Did you hear Paul Ryan and the #BetterWay boys howling in horror yesterday? Was the corpse of surrepticiously-worshipped Republican goddess Ayn Rand spinning in her grave? Nope; they weren't howling and she wasn't spinning-- despite Señor Trumpanzee's "outreach" to working women. Sure, as Wisconsin's top Republican talk show host, Charlie Sykes, tweeted soon after Señor Trumpanzee released his "plan" to sound like he wants to give women maternity leave, "Prediction: conservatives who would have be apoplectic if Obama had proposed guaranteed maternity leave, will fawn on Trump proposal." Maybe not. Like Trump's entire campaign, this proposal is a fraud. After all, his campaign says that the six weeks of guaranteed paid maternity leave will be paid for by eliminating fraud in unemployment insurance," which means "nothing happening here; no worries."Señor Trumpanzee's seeming indifference to conservative orthodoxy might look meaningfull and interesting taken at face value, when you dig a little, there's nothing there to bother Ryan and his austerity agenda crew. Six weeks of childcare expenses deducted from taxable income isn't exactly Bernie Sanders.
Bernie, you'll recall, pressured Hillary into supporting 12-weeks of paid family leave last year, a program that will be paid for by a tiny tax increase. Kirsten Gillibrand's Senate bill would increase the payroll taxes for workers and companies by 0.2%, or about $1.38 a week for the median wage earner.

Trump, who was notorious as an employer for not offering his female employees paid maternity leave or child care of any kind, spoke last night near Philly about new mothers receiving six weeks of unemployment benefits paid for by eliminating fraud in unemployment insurance (the Ivanka Plan). Until now congressional Republicans have blocked Democratic attempts to move maternity leave legislation forward.

Trump[anzee]’s proposal calls for allowing taxpayers-- both those who take the standard deduction and those who itemize deductions-- to deduct child care expenses up to an amount equal to the average cost of care in the state. The deduction would not be available to individuals earning more than $250,000, or $500,000 for couples.The proposal also calls for providing six weeks of paid maternity leave through unemployment benefits to parents whose employers don’t offer paid maternity leave.The proposal will offer “spending rebates” of up to $1,200 a year to lower-income families through the Earned Income Tax Credit.

Historically, Trump has opposed the whole idea of married women working at all and he's been on the record saying women have to be treated "like shit."
Back to Ryan and the #BetterWay boys for a moment. At BuzzFeed yesterday McKay Coppins reported that Republicans are starting to worry that Clinton might actually lose in November to a candidate who stands for nothing but himself.

For months, the prevailing wisdom within GOP political circles has been that Donald Trump stands little chance to win in November-- and a large number of the party’s consultants, fundraisers, and operatives privately preferred it that way. Though many of them are reluctant to say so in public, they argue that a Trump presidency would fracture their party, decimate the conservative movement, and wreak havoc on the global economy (not to mention their own industry).But now, with polls tightening and Hillary Clinton’s illness temporarily sidelining her from the campaign trail, those Republicans are expressing alarm at Trump’s sudden electoral viability.“It’s terrifying,” said one GOP consultant, who like others spoke to BuzzFeed News on condition of anonymity. “He’s not qualified … and it’s a massive problem. I’m not a fan of Hillary Clinton, but at least I feel like some of those jobs that are required for president, she could do them.”“It would be terrible for America, and for the world,” said another Republican strategist, referring to a prospective Trump victory. “I can’t think of one good thing that would come of it.”A third Republican said that after watching the Clinton campaign’s missteps in recent days, “I’m curled up in the fetal position watching The West Wing and drinking a basketful of deplorable liquor.”

UPDATEWe've been getting so many complaints from animal lovers that we're going to be retiring the little "Trumpanzee" joke, more or less. I think this is the last one, so enjoy.

The only thing which changed Trump's position on women's issues is the fact that he stands a chance of taking back some of the Republican female voters from Hillary. He won't DO anything differently than he already plans should he win.